Hi all - I'm making my first
Recipe. I've used bel pils as my base with white wheat rahr as a major grain (28% of mixture) - which is heavy on that side but I wanted something a bit different (and wheats are my thing). I also added the typical ger munich for breadiness and balance as well as flaked oat for creaminess. I picked styrian goldings and Ive added coriander seed and orange peel (at 15 mins - don't want to get punched in the face with that but I thought it'd go well with the yeast's natural pepperiness). Im hoping the recipe won't be too plain, but since its such low alcohol it may be anyway.... I'm aiming for the more traditional ABV for saisons - 3-5%. This one should be about 4.5% - i get a good 80% efficiency. I've used wyeast 3711 (French saison yeast) which I've heard works harder/faster than other strains.
Now, my questions.
1) I usually work with lambics, so I'm used to sitting around waiting for fermentation to complete. Would you suggest to wait till I reach my ideal gravity - I read it's usually 1.055-1.080 - is that correct?
Or wait the normal 3 mos (<- read that was typical aging time- truth in that?)? I'm wondering with my yeast if I need it to sit around as long....also should I routinely swirl the bottle to encourage the yeast?
2) I've heard people go back and forth on what ferm temp to use - to start cool and ramp up or start high and stay there. I'm curious to know the pros and cons of each - what is your experience ? So l just need to know length and temp....thanks for the advice
Recipe. I've used bel pils as my base with white wheat rahr as a major grain (28% of mixture) - which is heavy on that side but I wanted something a bit different (and wheats are my thing). I also added the typical ger munich for breadiness and balance as well as flaked oat for creaminess. I picked styrian goldings and Ive added coriander seed and orange peel (at 15 mins - don't want to get punched in the face with that but I thought it'd go well with the yeast's natural pepperiness). Im hoping the recipe won't be too plain, but since its such low alcohol it may be anyway.... I'm aiming for the more traditional ABV for saisons - 3-5%. This one should be about 4.5% - i get a good 80% efficiency. I've used wyeast 3711 (French saison yeast) which I've heard works harder/faster than other strains.
Now, my questions.
1) I usually work with lambics, so I'm used to sitting around waiting for fermentation to complete. Would you suggest to wait till I reach my ideal gravity - I read it's usually 1.055-1.080 - is that correct?
Or wait the normal 3 mos (<- read that was typical aging time- truth in that?)? I'm wondering with my yeast if I need it to sit around as long....also should I routinely swirl the bottle to encourage the yeast?
2) I've heard people go back and forth on what ferm temp to use - to start cool and ramp up or start high and stay there. I'm curious to know the pros and cons of each - what is your experience ? So l just need to know length and temp....thanks for the advice